9 Developments That Could Bring Thousands Of Housing Units To The D.C. Region

Multifamily construction has continued at a rapid pace in recent years as the D.C. region looks to house its growing population. With Amazon now planning to create 25,000 new jobs over the next decade, significant housing development will need to continue for years to come. Much of that housing will come as part of major mixed-use projects that will include thousands of residences and other property types. Bisnow looked at nine developments planned or under construction that could each bring at least 1,000 new units to the D.C. region. 

The Commons

• Developer: LCOR
• Housing Planned: 2,571 units
• Location: Tysons

A 20-acre site near the McLean Metro station has long been planned for a 2,571-unit development. LCOR, working with WDG Architecture, received master plan approval in 2012 for the project, which would include seven buildings from seven to 23 stories and 50K SF of retail. The developer has not provided any recent updates on its plans.

Also near the McLean Station, CityLine Partners is planning an 8M SF development with a mix of multifamily, office, hotel and retail. Skanska purchased a portion of that site in July and plans to construct a 350-unit apartment building. Both of those projects would sit in the shadow of Capital One's new 470-foot-tall headquarters, part of a 5M SF mixed-use project that will also include multifamily. 

Parks at Walter Reed

• Developer: Urban Atlantic, Hines, Triden
• Housing Planned: At least 2,100 units
• Location: Northwest D.C.

Construction is underway at The Parks at Walter Reed, the massive redevelopment of the 66-acre Walter Reed Army Medical Center Campus in Northwest D.C. The development team last year began demolition and infrastructure work, and earlier this year it broke ground on the first multifamily component, a 200-unit apartment building designated for senior and veteran affordable housing, expected to deliver in mid-2019. 

The next phase, 390 units of combined for-sale and rental housing, is expected to deliver in 2020. The 3.1M SF development is ultimately planned to include more than 2,100 residential units, 150K SF to 250K SF of retail, 185K SF of office, a 200-room hotel, two charter schools, 116K SF of medical space for Howard University Hospital, 30K SF of arts and cultural uses and 20 acres of open space.

RIA

• Developer: MidCity Development
• Housing Planned: 1,700 units
• Location: Rhode Island Avenue NE

The Brookland Manor community in Northeast D.C. is slated to be redeveloped into a 1,700-unit mixed-use project, branded as RIA. MidCity Development received written approval for the project, which is also planned to include 181K SF of retail, in April.

A group of opponents filed an appeal against the development's approval in May, and it is still going through the court process. Another large-scale development, Barry Farm in Southeast D.C., had its approval for 1,400 units vacated by the court in April. The Barry Farm development team has since gone back to the drawing board and plans to reduce the project's density, but it has not released updated plans outlining how many units it now hopes to build. 

New Carrollton

• Developer: Urban Atlantic, Forest City
• Housing Planned: 1,500 units
• Location: New Carrollton Metro station in Prince George's County

The planned, 2.7M SF transit-oriented development at the New Carrollton Metro station began construction last year with a 200K SF office building anchored by Kaiser Permanente.

The project is also slated to bring a ton of residential development to Prince George's County. Urban Atlantic and Forest City plan to build 1,500 multifamily units, plus 150K SF of retail, a hotel and 1.1M SF of office, in phases over the next decade. 

Parkside

• Developer: CityInterests
• Housing Planned: Up to 1,500 Units
• Location: Near the Minnesota Avenue Metro in Ward 7

Housing has already begun to deliver on CityInterests' 26-acre Parkside development site in Ward 7. The developer has completed a 186-unit multifamily building, a 98-unit senior building and 100 townhouses, plus a primary health center and an early childhood learning center.

The project's next phases, 543 multifamily units across four buildings, were approved last year and are planned to begin construction in 2019. The full development is slated to include up to 1,500 units, 750K SF of office and 50K SF of retail. The developer is working with investors to raise money for the next phases through the Opportunity Zone program that gives tax benefits for projects in underserved areas. 

Bryant Street

• Developer: MRP Realty
• Housing Planned: 1,450 units
• Location: Near the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station

The redevelopment of the Rhode Island Avenue Shopping Center property in Northeast D.C. is expected to begin before year-end. MRP Realty is planning to build 1,450 units, 345 of them in the first phase. The project will feature 45K SF of retail, anchored by an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. The developer is also planning improvements to the Metropolitan Branch Trail, which runs alongside the property. 

St. Elizabeths East

• Developer: Redbrick LMD
• Housing Planned: 1,300 residential units
• Location: Near Congress Heights Metro station

A groundbreaking celebration is scheduled for Tuesday for the first residential component of the St. Elizabeths East redevelopment. The $100M first phase, which the Anacostia Economic Development Corp. and Flaherty & Collins are partnering on, will redevelop seven historic buildings into 252 mixed-income apartments, expected to deliver in 2020.

The full redevelopment of the 180-acre campus, led by Redbrick LMD, calls for 1,300 residential units, 1.8M SF of office, 206K SF of retail and at least two hotels. The campus also features a sports facility for the Washington Wizards and Mystics, which opened in September. Additionally, George Washington University is planning to build a $300M acute care community hospital on the campus. 

The Yards

• Developer: Forest City
• Housing Planned: 1,200 units
• Location: Capitol Riverfront

Forest City in April unveiled its plan for the remaining parcels of The Yards, the 48-acre mega-project in Southeast D.C.'s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood. The future phases, to be built over the next 11 years, are planned to include 1,200 units, 1.5M SF of office and 150K SF of retail. 

Those 1,200 units will follow the three multifamily buildings that delivered at The Yards before this year and the two that were scheduled to deliver this fall, one of which is a condo building from Wharf co-developer PN Hoffman. 

Sursum Corda

• Developer: Toll Brothers
• Housing Planned: 1,100 Units
• Location: Near NoMa Metro station

Demolition began earlier this month at Sursum Corda, a 1960s-era, low-income housing community three blocks west of the NoMa Metro station. Toll Brothers is preparing to file plans for a project that will bring roughly 1,100 units to the 6.7-acre site. The developer acquired the community in March from the Sursum Corda Cooperative Association, which had been working with Winn Development Co. on redevelopment plans for the site. 

Executives from Urban Atlantic, MRP Realty and other top D.C. development firms will discuss their plans at Bisnow's Major Projects event Dec. 6 at The Watergate Hotel.